Alaska Police Stumped Over Missing Family

Rebecca Adams, boyfriend Brandon Jividen and Adams' two daughters, Michelle and Jaracca Hundley, have been missing for weeks

courtesy of Kenai Police Department

By Johnny Dodd

06/19/2014 AT 04:45 PM EDT

It's been a grueling few weeks for the 18 officers with the Kenai Police Department in Alaska.

Ever since the disappearance of Rebecca Adams, 22, boyfriend Brandon Jividen, 37, and Adams' two daughters Michelle Hundley, 5, and Jaracca Hundley, 3, from their apartment in tiny Kenai, Alaska, officers have been combing the countryside, searching for the missing family.

"It's a mystery," admits police chief Gus Sandahl when asked what could have happened to the family who haven't been heard from since May 27. "But finding them is definitely the highest priority of our department."

Concerned neighbors in the small town, which has a population of 7,100, asked police to check in on the couple on May 31 and, according to news reports, officers found Adams's wallet, cell phone and bank card at the residence and both Adams's and Jividen's vehicles were parked outside.

"There was no indication of a struggle or foul play in the apartment," adds Sandahl.

Local police, together with the FBI and a canine scent detection team, have launched one of the biggest search operations in nearly two decades, but have turned up nothing.

"The bottom line is: We don't know their whereabouts, but we're holding out hope that they are safe and alive," Sandahl says.